SUMAFly

Motivation

SUMAFly is a research project within the SE²A Cluster of Excellence. The focus of investigation within the cluster lies on the fundamentals for technologies and systems towards a more sustainable and energy efficient aviation. There is a growing interest towards electric powertrains and alternative fuels for replacing fossil-based combustion engines. However, even though the most promising technologies have the potential to reduce the in-flight emissions, the impacts might be redistributed to upstream or downstream stages of the technology’s life cycle, and socio-economic challenges may arise. Therefore, an integrated life cycle sustainability modelling approach is necessary to assess the real implications of future aviation technologies.

Project description

Within the context of the SUMAFly project, life cycle engineering methodologies will be developed for robustly assessing the life cycle environmental, economic and social implications of the emerging aircraft technologies. A systematic modelling of all material, energy and capital flows in all stages of the life cycle is carried out to build the necessary life cycle inventories, with substantial number of data models serving as a basis. With the aim of building a holistic sustainability analysis tool of new aviation technologies, relevant insights concerning, for instance, the environmental impacts of specific materials, components and their production (or recycling) processes can be provided. In this way, the introduced life cycle engineering modelling approach will support decision making towards a more sustainable aicraft development and operation.

Contact:

Sofia Pinheiro Melo
s.pinheiro-melo(at)tu-braunschweig.de